The invention relates to an apparatus for cutting out the vent of a fowl, which is hanging by the ankle joints from a hook of an overhead conveyor, comprising at least one cutting means moving along with the conveyor and being provided with a driven hollow cylindrical knife, concentrically rotating about a center pin, which for cutting out the vent is inserted into the vent opening in order to center the knife relative to the fowl's vent.
The known apparatus of this kind which serve to make a circular cut in the skin of the fowl around its vent, in such manner that the skin is severed from the entrails of the fowl, without damaging the entrails, have the disadvantage that the cut out vent is often caught by the rotating knife, so that the fowl's rectum is twisted and might rupture, in which case the entrails are damaged.